Life These Days

Good morning.  I've now completed my 9th year working as a school psychologist.  School is out and I've spent the last week decompressing and getting my "summer vacation legs" underneath me.  Because I tend to procrastinate, and because I tend to want to be lazy, and because I need a visual reminder, I have set some goals for summer and am documenting each step I complete so that I can note progress made.  This "progress" is sometimes noted as incremental tiny steps, so this documentation helps me see that hopefully, it really will make a difference.  There are seven major things I want to accomplish during this two months that I'm off so I'm hoping this chart will help.

However, even on summer "vacation", there are students I think about almost every day.  I wonder how life is for them, and if they are safe at home.  As a mandated reporter, I've had my share of calls to DCF (and I'm not going to rant about those issues here), and those kids always are in my heart.  I wish I knew (or maybe I don't) how they are.  Other students I think about bring happy memories - the one second grader who told me he wanted to be a chemist when he grew up - and proceeded to instruct me on protons, neutrons, and electrons.  The little girl who drew me a picture and wrote on it:  "To Mrs. XXXX - the best teacher I ever had!"  The precocious first grader with her hair piled up on top of her head who took my hand as we walked down the hall.  The student from another country just learning English who tried tried tried so hard to get it right.  A 5th grader leaving my school this year who I've watched carefully since 2nd grade- he now is struggling with lots of issues.  O God, bless them and keep them!

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Today is cool and cloudy, not quite what you might expect in Kansas on June 1.  The gardens are planted but there's been lots and lots of rain (the second wettest May on record just happened) so some things are not thriving as they should, however, lest anyone think I'm complaining, this rain has been an answer to prayer as far as the drought goes.  It's made a big difference.

We're getting ready to tackle two more remodeling projects - thanks to my very talented sister-in-law - we will be redoing our porch and putting new flooring in and painting our kitchen.   Our old house is a challenge, but there are things about it that we like.  I think we'll probably stay here until we can't stay here anymore, then we'll pass it on to our kids and it will be their problem  :) ,

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To close -

"When all is said and done, more is said than done."
-Lou Holtz